A Female Lead Wants a Lifelong Union With Me (Quick Transmigration) - Chapter 23

The early morning temperature was a bit cold. Fog had rolled in again, leaving the surroundings in a vast expanse of white; water droplets hung from every leaf and branch.

An He held a warm mantou (steamed bun) in her hands, chewing on the radish and cabbage Lin Ruoxue had just stir-fried; she didn’t feel the cold at all. But Lin Ruoxue was clearly still worried about her health, so she hurriedly got up, went to the bed, and brought over a cloak to put on An He.

An He had never seen this cloak before, so she casually asked where it came from.

“I bought the fabric a long time ago,” Lin Ruoxue said. “I thought the weather was getting colder and your clothes were inevitably a bit thin and wouldn’t keep out the chill, so I thought I’d make a cloak for you.”

Hearing this, An He felt a warmth in her heart, and her lips curled up unconsciously. She held the mantou in her mouth, freeing her hands to feel the fur on the cloak. The fur was white and soft as marshmallows from a dessert shop, and it carried a fresh fragrance.

“And what about this fur?” An He asked.

“I plucked it from my neck…” Lin Ruoxue said softly. “The fur near my neck is the softest and feels the most comfortable.”

“Huh?” As soon as the words left her mouth, An He froze, unable to react for a long time.

She had originally thought Lin Ruoxue had bought the fur, wondering where she had obtained such amazing-feeling material. It turned out she had plucked it from her own body.

“How ruthless!” even the System couldn’t help but sigh. “With this much fur, she must be bald around the neck.”

“Probably…” An He replied, feeling a bit of heartache.

Lin Ruoxue, however, didn’t intend to continue the conversation. She smiled, picked up a piece of radish, and brought it to An He’s lips, saying softly, “Eat, Xixi.”

“Okay.” An He paused, then leaned in and took the radish.

It was clearly the same dish as before, but eating it this time, the taste was unexpectedly different.

After breakfast, Lin Ruoxue told An He to wait there for a moment; she needed to go out first.

“What are you going to do?” An He asked as she watched her prepare to leave.

“Just to handle a few things.” Lin Ruoxue smiled and stepped out the door.

An He wanted to ask more, but before she could open her mouth, Lin Ruoxue had already closed the door.

“Something’s fishy…” An He pondered the closed door for a moment, then whispered to the System in her mind.

“I think so too,” the System replied. “She’s definitely keeping something from you.”

The person and the System remained silent for a while, then said in unison: “Let’s go take a look.”

An He: This is the first time she and the System had been so in sync.

Since she had decided to look, An He didn’t hesitate further. She rose gently from her chair, stepped softly forward, and slowly pushed open the door.

Lin Ruoxue seemed to be in the room next door. Voices drifted out through the cracks in the door and window, sounding somewhat surreal. What An He found strange, however, was that this was Lin Yueyue’s room.

What was she doing visiting Lin Yueyue for no reason?

An He was stunned, finding it increasingly bizarre. She knew very well that during the time she and Lin Ruoxue had lived together, there had been no interaction between Lin Ruoxue and Lin Yueyue—at least during the time she was awake, she had never seen them have contact. Unless, after she fell asleep, they had met and communicated in secret.

An He couldn’t figure it out and was intensely curious, so she tiptoed a few steps closer, pressing herself against the door to listen to the movement inside. She didn’t realize that her current appearance, if seen by others, would look exactly like a spouse catching their partner in an affair—one person inside being her wife and the other the mistress.

Yes, a wife. Even though An He had been “eaten,” she stubbornly believed she was the one on top.

After crouching and listening secretly for a while, An He managed to catch a few keywords. Things like “transaction,” “payment,” and miscellaneous chatter. Finally, there was a “thank you” and “goodbye.”

Hearing that Lin Ruoxue was about to come out, An He quickly turned around, intending to slip back carefully. Unexpectedly, Lin Ruoxue was a step faster, catching her red-handed.

“Xixi.” Seeing An He standing there, Lin Ruoxue couldn’t help but look surprised. “Why are you here? Could it be you were eavesdropping…”

“No, no, just passing by.” An He waved her hands hurriedly and looked away, feeling her skin grow a layer thicker from the lie.

Fortunately, Lin Ruoxue didn’t ask further. She turned and took An He’s hand, heading downstairs with her.

During the descent, An He stole a glance at Lin Ruoxue and noticed something in her pocket, with only a corner peeking out. It looked like a few sheets of paper.

The moment she saw them, An He immediately knew what she had been doing. She couldn’t help but wail to the System in her heart: That damn fox Lin Ruoxue actually went behind her back to buy erotica from Lin Yueyue!

“So what?” the System said. “She’s spending her own money on a legitimate transaction. She didn’t steal, rob, or do anything immoral. It’s none of your business.”

An He: “…”

Perhaps An He’s gaze was too intense, as Lin Ruoxue soon noticed. She paused, gave a light cough, and shoved the papers deeper into her pocket.

An He: Don’t hide it, I’ve already seen everything.

They went downstairs with An He full of resentment. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Ghost Brother hurried over, clicking his abacus.

“Good morning,” An He greeted him.

“I am not good,” Ghost Brother shook his head, his face shrouded in gloom. He pointed toward the door and asked with a frown, “I just got up and saw the door is broken. Do you know who did it?”

He was pointing at the door Lin Ruoxue had blasted open with the wind yesterday. Because it had been dark at first, An He hadn’t seen it clearly. Looking at it now, only half the door was still attached to the frame; the other half lay on the ground, gasping for its last breath.

Ghost Brother was still complaining, asking what sin he had committed to have corpses pinned to his walls one moment and his door broken the next—it was as if someone were trying to stop him from doing business altogether.

Before An He could speak, Ghost Brother turned to ask Lin Ruoxue if she knew how the door was broken.

“I don’t know,” Lin Ruoxue replied, her expression unchanged. After a pause, she added, “She doesn’t know either.”

An He: “…”

Hearing this, Ghost Brother sighed a few more times and could only turn away to ask others.

Taking advantage of this gap, Lin Ruoxue pulled An He and continued outside. There was a shop selling fireworks on the east side of the street. Since the Ghost Festival had just passed, business was very quiet. As soon as they entered, they saw the owner sleeping facedown on the table.

He was sleeping quite soundly; An He had to knock on the table seven or eight times to wake him.

“What are you here to buy?” Disturbed from his dreams, the owner looked up somewhat unhappily and asked, his narrow eyes sizing the two of them up.

“Do you have the kind of fireworks that fly into the sky with a single pull?” An He smiled apologetically and stepped forward to ask.

“Oh, you mean firework flares?” the owner replied. He turned and rummaged through the wooden boxes at his feet, finally pulling out a long, slender gadget.

“Yes, yes, that’s the one,” An He said quickly.

“Alright then.” The owner nodded and casually pulled out a ledger from under the table. “How many do you want?”

“How many do you have?” An He asked.

“Plenty.” Hearing her ask this, the owner couldn’t help but smile somewhat contemptuously. “What, are you going to take them all?”

“That is my plan,” An He nodded.

As soon as she spoke, the owner’s hand holding the brush froze instantly.

The weight of several hundred firework flares was not to be underestimated; An He and Lin Ruoxue truly couldn’t carry them all. In the end, An He went back to the inn and found several regulars who had sought her for fortune-telling, and they gradually moved all the fireworks back.

Seeing them move fireworks back and forth, Ghost Brother couldn’t help but find it strange and hurried forward to ask An He what she was up to. An He smiled and explained her idea to Ghost Brother and the group of drinkers.

When the group heard it, they thought it was indeed a good method, and the stone hanging in their hearts settled slightly. A few ghosts even volunteered, saying they were willing to help distribute the fireworks.

An He thanked them all, split the group into several waves, and went out onto the street to distribute the fireworks house by house. Before leaving, she told them to be careful and not to make too much noise.

The ghosts all agreed.

Walking and distributing all the way, time flew by; before they knew it, evening had arrived. The fireworks were all distributed, and now every ghost had one in hand. Hearing the reports from the returning ghosts, An He felt very at ease, as if she had accomplished something major.

Lin Ruoxue sat by her side, staring unblinkingly at An He’s smiling face, a faint smile also hanging on her lips. Because they were major customers, the shop owner had given them some other types of fireworks before they left.

Lin Ruoxue sat there until all the ghosts had returned and An He had finished handling the matters at hand. Then she stood up, walked over to An He, and crouched down.

“Xixi,” she said softly, reaching out and taking An He’s hand, which held a different warmth.

“What is it?” An He was very happy right now and couldn’t help but reach out and gently stroke her head.

“Accompany me,” Lin Ruoxue whispered, leaning her face against An He’s knee, her voice carrying a hint of anticipation and pleading. “I want to go out and set off fireworks.”

This was the first time An He had heard her make such a childish request. Although she had been busy all day and was quite tired, hearing Lin Ruoxue speak to her in such a tone and posture, it was hard to refuse.

So she nodded gently and agreed to Lin Ruoxue’s request.

“Okay, let’s go.” She smiled and stood up, pulling Lin Ruoxue’s hand.